Today, I wanted to talk about one of the more interesting aspects of reality television: the story. I’ve talked before about the complicated nature of the “reality” part of reality television, and anyone that follows my work for even a short amount of time will know that I love a complicated view of reality. But stories are important – stories are important in scripted television and in reality television because stories are important to us as people. We tell stories every day when someone simply asks about how our day was. So of course reality television needs a good story.

Reality television shows us how fickle the concept of the hero is. Colloquial Western understandings of the hero has someone who upholds ideals and morality is something which is often just a matter of perspective. Reality television is a medium through which the very fine line between hero and anti-hero is properly explored. It is, of course, just a matter of editing.